The dark horse of the Oscar race this year comes in the form of this sensational German language adaptation of Erich Maria Remarque’s brutal and unflinching novel All Quiet on the Western Front. A film that has had multiple adaptations before, even one that did indeed go on to win Best Picture. What separates this film from those previous efforts and what makes it standout in this year’s field of nominations? Well in the hands of director Edward Berger, this film not only matches the brutality of the novel but stands aside from the other adaptations as a riveting, painful and awe-inspiring piece of work. One of the great epics of the year and one of the best war films of recent memory.

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Edward Berger has set out to here to make a stunningly brutal and truthful feature film and with that goal he has most certainly succeeded. This is such an incredibly accomplished work on all fields when it comes to the making of it that one really can’t help but stand back in its achievement and level of definite craft. Now of course with any film of this nature, one should not expect any sort of easy or enjoyable watch, this is not to say that the film is an entirely horrible experience to watch, however at its core it does indeed naturally have a profound tragedy to the piece. Berger’s hand as a director is sturdy and unflinching, balancing speed with stillness, sometimes in direct juxtaposition. Berger’s work as a director is only one factor of the film of course and perhaps no film in this current field of nominees has such a below the line level of absolute talent in what was set out to be made and what was achieved in the ultimate making and of course the final product. The editing of Sven Budelmann matches Berger’s direction by directly juxtaposing with steadiness, prior to absolute franticness, it’s a complex and stunning work of craft on all levels, all working together to make a sublime movie. The cinematography of James Friend too is sublime, constantly working in the greys between the beauty of the landscapes and the horrors of what is occurring using them. The film is strikingly modern in certain ways, perhaps in no way more than the score by Volker Bertelmann which again juxtaposes between beautiful and soft and simple melodies with then pulsating electronic pieces of music, one leitmotif in particular that is filled with an intense and horrid level of dread.


The screenplay by Berger, Ian Stokell and Lesley Peterson introduces into the story a series of scenes reflecting how the war came to continue and conclude in its final moments. These scenes have caused some minor controversies with those devotees of the novel and original film, however for me were all performed and written so well that they only added to the overall horror of the piece. These scenes are when the dialogue is at its most political and presenting, however many of the quieter moments shared between our soldiers are when the writing and dialogue is at its best. Overall the practical effects cannot be faulted in the film, however there were certain elements of some of the computer generated work that did slightly come off as artificial and noticeable, not always, but sometimes. The performances of the film however bring everything back down to a startling truth, the ensemble is bold and large and all stellar however the films two chief soldiers, that of Felix Kammerer and Albrecht Schuch maintain us on our journey and are both truly terrific, with Kammerer in particular offering so much innocence and fear only to by the end of the film tell us so much with the simplest of dead emotionless eyes and reactions.

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A truly incredible 9/10 that although may not be one of my favourite films of the year in the regular sense, really is one of the better films I’ve seen this year. Its length is justified and its film-making is a brutal and powerful endeavour. The direction of Berger and the adaptation by the writers takes this Western Front to new levels of power and intent, with an ensemble of stellar performances that bolster this startlingly effecting piece of cinema. It’s the normal sort of recommendation a war film like this will receive; “it is by no means an easy watch, but its certainly one of the great films of the year and one of the most impacting”. A beautiful and horrid film.

P.S. The conflicting adaptations of the novel and the way in which each differ will I feel soon make a great piece of academia, however on a base level I would have to say that although I hold great admiration for the original film and the way in which it broached its matters, I can’t help but feel that this is a far more accomplished and successful piece of work – and in many ways by the end a more effecting feature film.

-        -  Thomas Carruthers